In R.I., new businesses stem from medical marijuana

Friday

PROVIDENCE - There's a new institution of "higher" education that will soon open its doors to eager students interested in the pursuit of knowledge.

It's a school that you won't find in The Fiske Guide to Colleges or the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings of the nation's top colleges.

But the Budding Academy, which bills itself as "the nation's number-one source for cannabis education," is set to make its debut this month on Wickenden Street, near Hope Street, in Fox Point.

"Our approach is to be a bit more mainstream to the whole cannabis approach," said Ray Larkin, the academy's founder. "We're trying to treat marijuana as a commodity that could be legalized in the near future. Calls are starting to trickle in. There has been a decent amount of interest."

The Budding Academy is one of several spinoff businesses that have popped up as the number of people licensed by the state to use medical marijuana, or just grow it for patients, has increased and the state headed toward having three medical marijuana dispensaries. But the future of the dispensaries, which would grow their own medical marijuana, became murky after Peter Neronha, the U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island, sent a letter to Governor Chafee announcing that the federal authorities may prosecute anyone involved in the dispensaries as large-scale drug dealers. For now, Chafee has placed the licensing of the centers on hold.

Nonetheless, Larkin is pressing forward with his marijuana-growing school. He thinks that Neronha's threat could generate more interest in caregivers interested in cultivating their own crops.

"It won't have a significant impact either way," he said. "I think that I just have to roll with the punches."

As of May 2, the state reported that there are 3,459 registered patients and 2,221 caregivers, a number that has been steadily climbing since last summer. In the past two months, 188 new patients and 144 caregivers have joined the program. Patients can grow a limited number of marijuana plants as well as use marijuana for medical reasons; caregivers may only grow a limited number of plants for someone else.

Two weeks ago, Growers Edge Indoor Garden Supply opened for business at 155 Newport Ave., in East Providence, and Growin' Crazy, a distributor of indoor and outdoor garden supplies on Route 138, in Richmond, advertises itself as a business "friendly" toward the medical marijuana program.

There's also a new supply store on the East Side called, Greenlights Horticulture & Hydroponics.

The spinoff businesses are doing everything short of selling marijuana.

The Budding Academy, at 398 Wickenden St., will be the first of 11 marijuana schools to open nationwide, says Larkin. The others, he says, will be established in 10 other locations with approved medical marijuana programs: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

Larkin said that the second school will open in Burlington, Vt., a few weeks after the Providence school opens. Classes are also scheduled in June in Los Angeles and San Francisco, he says.

Larkin also has an office in San Francisco.

In Providence, the Budding Academy hopes to have anywhere from 15 to 25 students sign up for its first two six-hour sessions on June 11 and 12. Those will be basic classes. Two weeks later, on June 25 and 26, the school will offer advanced classes.

Each session costs $265, but if a student enrolls in both, the package is $500.

Students must complete the basic class before they are allowed to enroll in the advanced class.

Larkin said that about 100 candidates have expressed an interest in a position as an instructor at the academy, including several with advanced degrees in horticulture. He said that they will be paid $20 to $25 an hour. The basic class covers topics such as legal and political issues, exploring the various marijuana strains, methods of ingestion and cannabis culture.

The advanced class, also referred to as "Blooming Bud," goes much deeper into subjects such as advanced grow sites and growing techniques, cannabis economics and cannabis connoisseurship, or the evaluation of certain marijuana strains based on potency, color and texture.

The Budding Academy has a website, www.buddingacademy.com, that weaves patriotism into the growing movement to decriminalize and legalize marijuana. One section on the site, called "America Loves Its Cannabis," reads:

"Among the mountains of Appalachia to the rolling hills of California, and from the fertile soils of Florida to the sandy shores of Oregon, cannabis is not only widely consumed but dearly loved by millions of great people. After all, our country is called the land of the free for a reason. We have the right to pursue happiness in any way we see fit so long as our actions do not endanger the well being of others or harm our society as a whole."

It continues, "Freedom has always seemed to be in this country's air and at this time that beloved freedom of ours sure smells an awful lot like the sweet aroma of a cannabis plant."

Larkin, 29, grew up in Seekonk, attended Johnson & Wales University in Providence, and launched his own bartending school, On The Rocks, at various locations across Rhode Island. He recently sold the business and lived in San Francisco for a year where the marijuana industry was booming.

"It's treated a little bit like coffee out there," he said.

Larkin, who obtained a medical marijuana card in California to use cannabis for "stress," chose Wickenden Street because he liked the artsy atmosphere of galleries, antique shops and cafes lining the neighborhood. It's also in proximity to Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design. "We are teaching people how to grow," he said. "We want to put a good amount of emphasis on what will happen in the next three, five and 10 years."

Just around the corner, at Hope and Transit streets, is Greenlights Horticulture & Hydroponics. Like Larkin, owner Justin Nuland relocated to Rhode Island from San Francisco to take advantage of the growing medical marijuana program. He sells pots, soil and lighting systems at the store he opened eight months ago. He estimated that about half of his customers are licensed caregivers in the state.

Nuland, who suffers from acid reflux, has applied to be a patient in the state program. So far, he said, he's making enough money "to pay the bills," but he has yet to advertise his new business, once the home of Rachel's Pastanova.

Then, there is Growers Edge in East Providence, which opened on April 15. The co-owners, Dave Quebec and Brian Santos, are former construction workers and licensed caregivers in the medical marijuana program. They have been legally growing marijuana for four patients for several years.

Construction work has been tough to come by, so they decided to open the supply store on Newport Avenue. They sell supplies, such as soil, hydroponic equipment and lighting systems that can be used to cultivate marijuana.

They said it costs about $500 for the equipment that would allow someone to grow indoors their own marijuana.

How has business been? "Excellent," Quebec said. "We've definitely had a good response from the neighborhood."

Quebec said that he doesn't ask customers whether they are buying the equipment to grow medical marijuana, illegal marijuana or whether they are using the equipment for other purposes. He and Santos said that they have tentative plans to open a second store in Tiverton later this year.

bmalinow@projo.com

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